Developing apparatus



Jan. 22, 1929.

A. LANGSNER. DEVELOPING APPARATUS Filed March=17, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1dabZ v/wZ/a Q 9 612% Jan. 22, 1929. I 1,699,976

I A. LANGSNER DEVELOPING APPARATUS Filed March 17, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Jan. 22, 1929.

UNITED s'rA'rEs PATENT OFFICE.

ADOEPH LANGBHEB, OI CHICAGO, ABBIGNOE TO EUGENE DR'IMEK m!- 7 rm, OFCHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OI DELAWARE. I

' mwnorme arraaarusl Application fled larch-17, i988. Serial Io.262,487.

This invention relates to. developing apparatus for developinlightsensitive material such as paper by t e action of chemically activegases such for instance as ammonia One of the objects of my invention isto provide a semi-automatic t pe' of device adapted .to develop aplurahty of separate sheets 01; rolls of paper 111 separate containers10 and in a manner such as to preclude the escape of the developing gasto the atmosphere either before, during, or after the developingoperation. 7 Yet another object of my invention resides in providing adeveloping device having a rotatable turret carrying a plurality ofdeveloping tubes or towers in which the separate sheets or rolls oflight sensitive material .may be inserted together with means forautomatically rotating the turret and for bringing the towers or tubeseither successively or simultaneously over one or moresources ofdevelopin medium such for instance as developing liquid adapted togenerate gas or alternatlvely, the gas itself. An ancillary feature ofthis aspect of my invention resides in the additional provision of meansfor supplying each tower or tube with water vapor to accelerate thedeveloping action.

Still another object of my invention resides in the details ofconstruction of the rotat-able turret and the tubes or towers carriedthereby whereby the turret may be rotated intermittently in a step bystep manner, and

05 whereby the light sensitive material may be inserte into t e towersfrom a particular station and whereby the towers are moved directly overpans or containers of liquid ammonia and in a manner such as to-precludedevelop the light sensltive material; whereby'the turret carrying thetowers is automatically moved step by step or alternatively,

4:, may be" released to beinanually turnable in i a continuous manner;whereby. the turret is provided with rubber or other suitable ga'sk- 3tainer for water and a heating means therefor is mounted suitablybeneath the rotating turret so as to be registerable with the up- 'ure1;

ranged to permit the free rotation p f the turret. The invention alsoeomprehends the Y to move thereover.

These and other objects of my invention will be apparent from a perusalof the following specification when taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of m device with portions broken away to show te tanks;

Figure 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig- Figure 3 is a bottom plan viewof my device; and

- Figure 4 is a detail view of the switch mechanism and stops.

' In general, my improved type of developing apparatus comprises arotatable turret carrying onits upper surfaces a plurality of up-standintowers or hollow tubes adapted to receive an hold therein separatesheets or rolls of paper to be developed. Means is provided'for rotatingthis turret in a step by step fashion and also in a manner to permit itto be freely rotated by hand if desired. In addition, there is mountedbeneath the turret a plurality of containers adapted to hold liquidammonia for generating. developing gas 7 which ma pass upwardly throughthe turret into the ollow tubes when the tubes are brought over thepans. The machine is also '40 escape of ammoma gas to the atmospherewhlle permitting it to pm into the tower toprovided with means forpreventing the escape of the developing gas into the-atmosphere whilepermitting 1t to pass upwardly into the tubes from the liquid ammonia inthe I pan and this means is constructed and arutilization of one or moreof the pans for containing water and provided with heating means forgenerating water vapor or steam which likewise is arranged so as to INthe developing towers or tubes to accelerate the developing action. Thepans for the ammonia and the water are ar arcuately beneath therotatable turret an are grou on either side of a feeding station whichis U.

constructed so'that the paper to be developed may be inserted frombeneath the turret up wardly into the tubes and is then held therein bymeans of open-work doors which not only hold the paper in the tubes butpermit the developed gas to pass upwardly therethrough to develop thelight sensitive material. During the rotation of the turret, each tubeis positioned either over a pan containing the developing liquid or overa Water bath and during the continued rotation of the turret, the tubespass successively over the feeding station so that fresh paper may beinserted into the hollow tubes or the developed paper may be withdrawntherefrom. The invention also embraces certain minor details such as anautomatic means controlled by the rotation of the turret for stoppingthe motor drive therefor when all of the tubes have been subjected toproper developing action. also a means for locking the table in desiredposition and also a means for either rotating it intermittently orpermitting it to be rotated freely.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the embodiment herein disclosedis a construction which I have selected merely for the purposes ofexemplification and not in any restricted sense. This machine comprisesthe upstanding legs 2, the upper portions of which carry three radiallyand inwardly extending bars or arms 4, 6, and 8, the junction of whichcarry a casting 10 which in turn is of such construction that itprovides at top and bottom two bearings 12 and 14 adapted to receive ashaft 16 which in turn carries a spider 18 at its upper end, consistingof a number of radially extending arms The three supporting legs 2 andthe arms 4,

6, and 8 are arranged to support the containers or'pans for thedeveloping liquid and the water. To this end the arms and legs carryconcentrically disposed inner and outer rings 20 and 22 whichformcomplete circles about the axis formed by the shaft 16. These rings arespaced apart at the legs so as to form circular peripheral supports forarcuately shaped pans 24. These pans are of sufficient length to extendfrom a point 26 (see Figure 1) about the periphery of the circle to apoint 28. I prefer to have a number of pans for the purposes hereinafterset forth, although separate pans may be used if desired. These pans arepreferably of sheet metal of such P nature as to avoid corrosion byliquid ammonia and are preferably provided with sheet metal tops 30which close the tops of the pans except for a plurality of holes 32formed through the tops at spaced apart distances of predeterminedlength. In addition, the up per surfaces of these sheet metal tops areprovidedwith rubber or felt gaskets 34 which overlie the peripheraledges of the containers as shown clearly in Figure 2. Thepurpose ofthese felt gaskets is to provide sealing or other suitable developingliquid adapted to generate or evolve a developing gas such as ammoniagas and these pans may be filled by suitable filling tubes 36 which passthrough the walls of the pan and are arranged so that the fillingnozzles' 38 extend outwardly laterally of the device. In addition,certain of the other pans are provided with relatively short partitionsto form water holding chambers 40 and these chambers are each providedwith a suitable type of heater 42 for heating the water in the pan so asto generate water vapor or steam. I prefer to provide an electric heaterfor this purpose and this heateris provided with any type of electricalconnection 44 to the outside portion of the developing apparatus.

Asherein shown, I provide two series or sets of pans for holding liquidammonia and water vapor. The two pans for holding the water vapor aredesignated as40 and 46 and it will be noticed that the first water pan40 is placed immediately after the first ammonia pan 30 and that thelast water pan 46 is placed after the second of the ammonia pans and isarranged immediately before the discharging and feeding station.

In order to permit the insertion of sensitized paper into'the developingtubes and to withdraw it therefrom after being developed, at one sector,or the under structure of my device, I eliminate the pans and leave thatarcuate portion of. the periphery of the base open. This is shown at theleft in Figure 2 of the drawings. It will be seen that when it'isdesired to insert or withdraw the material from a tube, it is done frombeneath the table or turret. upper end of the shaft 16 form a supportfor a table or turret 50. This turret is provided at desired intervalswith a number of up standing towers or chambers 52 arranged in spacedrelation about the periphery of the table. In the present instance,there are 12 of such towers. The tops of these towers are closed and thebottoms are 'open. The bottoms are preferably closed by means of a door54 hinged as at 56 to the table and the door 54 is of open workconstruction, preferably wire mesh or screen, and is round so as tosnugly fit the bottom of the open tower. The under side of the tableopposite the hinge 56 is provided with a spring catch 58 adapted to'holdthe door 54 in closed position. Each door, when released, will drop bygravity so that a sheet or roll of light sensitive material may beinsertedupwardly into the tube after which the door is snapped intoclosing position so that the door will hold the sheet The arms 18carried by the i of paper or developing material in upright positionwhile at the same time permitting the developing gas to pass upwardlytherethrough to develo the paper. It be noted that the fee ing anddischarging station is of suflicient arcuate length to provide atthehead of the series; and three, developing stations comprisingthethree spaced holes above the .firstpan containing the liquid am-' moniaand forming openings over which three hollow tubesare positioned. Thesecond developing station also comprises-four openings in the understructure over which ma be positioned four hollow tubes or turrets. Thefirst of these openings has beneath it a pan containing the water vaporand the heater therefor while the remaining three are located over thepan containing the liquid ammonia. It will thus be seen that by rotatingthe turret, the tubes may be brought'into registry with thescreenedapertures 54 at the feeding and dischargingstation at which time thelight sensitive material to be developed is inserted into a set'of fourtubes and then the turret is moved either step by step or turned by handto a position wherein four more of the tubes are loaded and further onuntil all the tubes of the turret are loaded.

Means is rovided for advancing the turret either step by step in anintermittent movement, or continuousl or wherein the turret may bedisconnected rom the automatic driving means such as the motoryand movedby hand. To this end, I provide; as shown in the present instance, anelectric motor 62 mounted on one of the arms 8 and this motor drives atrain of reducing gearing 64, beveled inion 66, which in turn mesheswith another veled pinion on a vertical shaft 68. This shaft 68 isarranged to drive one element 7 0 of a Geneva movement the other elementof which constitutes the relatively large wheel 72' mounted on thecentral shaft 16. This geneva is of the usual type so that, asunderstood in the art, the main shafth16 is rotated step by step andbetween rotation is locked in position.

Means is provided for releasing this Geneva movement-feed so that theturret ma be rotated at will b hand. To this end t e relatively largewiieel 72 is slidably mounted on a lower reduced end Mot the shaft 16and a suitable shipper lever 76 pivotally mounted as at 78 on a leg 2 isprovidedfor slidably disengaging the large Geneva wheel 72 from ture.

flange 80 on the turret and also engage the into the surroundingatmosphere while at the of the containers.

leased, the turretma be rotated at will. On the other hand, w en theGeneva memrsare connected, the otor will drive the turret step by stepin e desired direction. The outer periphery of the turret or table isprovided -witha downwardly depending flange 80 which is adapted todraggingly engage the over-hanging flexible rubber or felt gasket 34which is carried'by the outer upper surface-of the containers. his outerrubber gasket is in the nature of a peripheral ring of rubber. Inaddition I also rovide the under surface of the turret or ta le withanother rubber ring or gasket'82 which depends downwardly and engages aninner flanged surface 84 on the container pans and also onthe circularrings 20 and 22 forming the under struc- Thus, these two concentricrubber askets or rings which engage the depending 85 inwardly extendingflanges 84 and 86 of the under structure and container pansrespectively, provide an adequate sealing means for preventing theescape of the developing gas 90 same time permitting the gas to passupwardlyinto the towers through the holes in the container pans when thetowers come into registration with the openings. 32 in the tops I alsoprovide the depending flange 80 of the turret with a plurality of forkedportions or slots 88 adaptedto be engaged bya pivotally mounted arm 90,the inner end 92 of which is pulled normally downwardly by a spring 94against an adjustable stopQG carried by a bracket 98 'on' the outer endof the under structure. y

In addition, I have provided automatic means for breaking the circuitafter the turret has made one comp te revolution from the finaldischarging sition. This 'mechanism comprises a depending stud '100carried by the under side of the table or turret adapted-fit; engage aspring plunger 102 mounted in a bracket 104 on an insulation member 106carried on the outer periphery of the under structure 108. This bracket104 carries two contacts 110 and 112 adapted to, be bridged by thecontact member 116 when the head 102 is released under the ac tion ofthe sprin 114 and after the head is passed from un er the depressingmember 100. This head 102 is placed at a desired point on the stationaryunder structure so that 'When the actuating member 100 comes opposite itat a certain period of travel of the rotatable turret, the motor will bebroken and the turret stopped. If desired, I may couple up this switch,to the electric heating systems in the water pans so that the currentin the heating members is also cut out when the turret stops.

It will thus be seen that in accordance with my foregoing disclosure Ihave proyided a taneously loaded at the feedin station and then theturret rotated to load the remain-.

ing towers for further automatic development as the turret is driven bythe motor, I

am enabled to permit the sequential and practically simultaneousdevelopment of any number of sheets of light sensitive material andwithout the interference of human agency since the machine will come toa stop upon the completion of the developing period. It will also beapparent that by reason of the location of the ammonia pans andparticularly the location of the water vapor pan for accelerating thedeveloping action, together with the means for driving the turretcarrying towers in the step by step manner, the developing action willgo on automatically after having been initiated. In other words,

all that is required is that the towers beloaded after which thedevelopment will be carried out andithe machine brought to a stop. Bythe utilization of a number of sequentially arranged developing pans,that is, pans I containing the liquid ammonia adapted to evolve the gasand also by the position of the number of water containing pans adaptedto give off steam or water vapor, I am enabled to accelerate thedeveloping action, while at the same time, while providing a pluralityof sheets of these water pans, I am enabled to effectively and in aminimum time to secure the complete development .of the light sensitivematerial during its cyclic travel about the sequentially arranged pans.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a developing apparatus, the combination of a shiftable membercarrying a plurality of separate developing chambers, means forming astation adapted to supply a-mmonia'developing gas and means for movingsaid separate chambers successively into connection with said developinggas, and means for supporting light sensitive material in each chamber.r

2. In a developing tion of movable means having a p urality of separatedeveloping chambers eac having an inlet, means for sup orting lightsensitive material in each chain er, a source of gaseous developingmedium, and means for sequentially connecting each chamber to the sourceof said medium.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination of a rotatableturret carrying a apparatus, the com'bina-- of developing chambersformed with openings, a pan of developing liquid adapted to evolvedeveloping gas located beneath the turret and means for connecting eachof said towers with said pan for causing developing gas to enter saidtowers, and means for 'rotating said turret and means for preventing theescape of the gas into the atmosphere while permitting it to pass intoeach tower.-

5. In. a device of the class described, the combination of a turretcontaining a plurality ofspaced apart up-standing towers, means forrotating said turret step by step, a plurality of pans beneath saidturret, covers for said pans, each cover having a plurality throughwhich the gas arising from the developingliquid in each pan may pass,means for registering the towers with the openings in the tops of thepans during the rotation of the turret, and means for inserting andwithdrawing light sensitive material from said towers.

6. In a'device of the class described, the combination of a rotatableturret having a plurality of spaced apart up-standing towers having openbottoms, means for supporting light sensitive material in said towers, astationary under structure beneath said turret, means for rotating saidturret, a feeding station formed by said under structure for'insertingand withdrawing light sensitive material from said towers, and adeveloping.

station comprising means for holding liquid ammonia beneath said towersin their paths of travel, and means controlled by the rotation of saidturret for opening and closing communication between said liquid ammoniaand said towers.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a rotatablemeans carrying a plurality of towers adapted to hold light sensitivematerial, a source of developing ammonia and means controlled by therotation of said rotatable means for controlling the communicationbetween said developing medium and said towers.

8. In a device of the class described, the

of spaced apart openings therein.

Ill

combination of a shiftable carrier having a plurality of up-standingtowers having doors of open construction forminga support for sheets oflight sensitive material disposed in said towers, an under structurecarrying pans adapted to hold developing liquid and pansadapted to holdwater, heating means in said water pans, said pans having tops providedwith spaced apart openings through which the water vapor and ammonia gasmay rise, means for rotating said turret to register the towers with theopenings in said tops of the pans and sealing means adapted to seal themovable connection between the rotatable turret and the under structureand pans for preventing the escape of the ammonia and water vapor.

10. In a device of the class described, the combination of a su portingstructure adapted to hold a pan a apted to receive liquid ammonia, arotatable turret carried by said structure comprising a centrallydisposed shaft, a plurality of developing towers on said turret adaptedto make and break connection with the pan containing the liquid ammonia,a motor and driving means therefrom to said shaft for rotating saidturret ste by step.

11. a device of the class described the combination of a sup ortingstructure adapted to hold a pan a aptedto receive liquid ammonia, arotatable turret carriedby said .structure comprising a centrallydisposed vertical shaft, a plurality of developing towers on said turretadapted to make and break connection with, the pan containing the liquidammonia, a motor and driving means therefrom to said shaft for rotatinsaid turret step b step, and means for nnecting the riving means fromthe. turret 0 permit the turret to be rotated freely by 12. In a deviceof the class described, the combination of a supporting base holding apan of liquid ammoma, a top for said base aving an opening therein, aturret rotatable over said opening and carrying a plurality ofdeveloping towers open atthebottom and adapted on rotation of saidturret to register with said opening, means for supporting lightsensitive material in said towers, a motor, means for rotating saidturret from said opening in step by step movement includinga Genevamovement, and means for preventing the escape of. the developing gasfrom said container and from said tower during the rotation of theturret.

13. In a device of'the class described, the combination of a supportingbase, a vertical shaft thereon, a rotatable turret carried by saidshaft, a locking and driving wheel mounted. on said shaft, a motorcarried by said base, a train of gearing operatively c0n-. nectin saidmotor and driving wheel and ar range to drive the wheel in ste by stepmovement and to hold the same in ocked position during movements, a panof liquid amdeveloping gas carried thereby, a rotatable.

turret mounted on said base and carrying a 1 plurality of developingtowers, means for rotat-ing said turret and connecting said towerssuccesively with said source of gas, and means for stopping said turretupon the completion of a predetermined movement.

15.. In a device of the class described, the combination of a supportingbase carrying a pan containing liquid ammonia, a rotatable turret havin.11 depending flange provided with a plura 'ty of upstanding developingtowers, means for connec'tin the towers with the source of ammonia,flexi le gaskets form ing a'sealing connection between said rotatableturret and the base for preventing the escape of the ammonia gas.

16. In a device of the class described, the combination of a'supportingbase, a vertical shaft mounted thereon, a turret mounted on said shaftand having a plurality of upstanding towers, a relatively large Genevastop wheel mounted on said shaft, a cooperative Geneva wheel mounted onthe base, means for driving said second Geneva wheel, arcuately disposedcontainers mounted on said base at the periphery of the turret andbeneath the same and adapted to contain liquid ammonia and water, saidcontainers havingjgops pro vided with spaced apart openings posed so asto register with the towers in the turret in .predetermined positions ofthe turret, and

means for preventing the escape of the developing gas from the tank orturret while permitting .the same to pass from the tanks into theturret.

17 In the developing apparatus, the combination of a shiftable membercarryinga plurality of separate developing chambers,"

means for su porting light sensitive material in each chamber, means formoving said shiftable member, and means adapted successively to subjectthe light sensitive materialin the separate chambers to the action ofheated water vapor and developing gas by reason of the travel of saidshiftable member.

' 18. In a develo ing apparatus, the combination of a shifta le membercarrying a plurality of separatedeveloping chambers, means forsupporting light sensitive material in each chamber, means for shiftinsaid member, and means for successively su jecting the light sensitivematerial in said chambers first to the action of heated water vapor andsubsequently tothe action of a gaseous developing medium. i

'19. In a developing apparatus, the combithe action of heated watervapor and next to nation of a rotatable turret carrying a pluthe actionof gaseous developing medium due rality of separate developing chambers,means to the travel of said turret.

for supporting light sensitivematerial in each In Witness whereof, Ihave hereunto sub- 5 chamber, means for shifting said turret, andscribed my name.

means forming separate stations for sequentially subjecting successivechambers first to ADOLPH LANGSNER.

